ROCKTober Week 1 Results

Well, TFB readers, it’s been one full week of the ROCKtober mission (in case you missed it, this is what’s happening with my month-long lifestyle reboot).  Let’s revisit the goals, shall we?

ROCKtober board in full effect

The junk food one was easy – I went through and did a full sweep before we even started ROCKing, and I haven’t brought anything “bad” in since.  I’ve been hitting it on yoga – went once on Friday and once on Monday, definitely averaging the 1X/week goal.

Salads were lunch every day, including a really tasty one from DEN (just next door to my work!) yesterday.  I’ve hit my water goal every day except one (and I got 88 ounces that day, so it wasn’t nothing).  And our dinners have been veggie-tastic (and home cooked!) each night.

I know you’re all wondering about the booze, what with my weekend party time at the Clarke Quay Oktoberfest – but again, I said I’d only be drinking 2X in the week, and I stuck to that – two glasses of white wine with the girls at dinner on Friday; a few (cough) beers at Oktoberfest on Saturday.  And not a lick of booze otherwise!

Prost!

Check that salad bowl

On the con side of things, Nick and I have yet to be together for a weekend swim, so we’re going to try and hit that this weekend in Bangkok (we specifically chose a hotel with a pool to make this one happen!).  The Singapore haze has made it near-impossible to run, so I had zero runs this week (sure, sure, I know what you’re thinking – you can make excuses or you can make it happen, get on a treadmill, yada yada) – but hopefully that too will be remedied in Bangkok.  Crossfit also happened zero times this week as well, although I was able to get into the gym and lift twice in a WOD-inspired fashion, so I won’t count this as a total loss.

One of my WODs

And I’ll be completely honest – I’ve been 50/50 on the positive self-talk.  Some days I wake up and go, “yes!  you’re on track!  You rock!” and other days I wake up and say, “you’re not doing enough.  Get your a*s to 6:30am Crossfit class, you lump.” It’s a work in progress, as things like this always are.

On a final (and VERY positive!) note – I’m down three pounds on the week!  Just goes to show that this whole diet and exercise thing really does wonders on the scale.

Did you set a ROCKtober goal?  How has your progress been so far?

A Weight Training Breakdown

The secret is out: I love lifting weights.  I always have, or at least since my dear friend (and soon-to-be bridesmaid!) Marilyn took me to the gym our freshman year of college and showed me how to properly lift them.

Immediately I was enthralled – goodbye, cardio body, hello, strong, fit body (well, stronger, fitter body – in college I was still quite soft what with the all-beer-and-booze diet).

I dragged through 20 minutes on the elliptical (hey, it was the early ’00s) just so I could be warmed up enough to power through my favorite part of the workout – weights!  I loved picking them up, feeling their heavy weight, slogging them around the weight room and feeling like a warrior princess when I progressed to the next level.  I was hooked.

Fast-forward nearly 16 (!) years later, and the love story continues.  I lift weights most days of the week, taking one rest day during the week (usually Tuesdays, when I teach a high-intensity interval class at the gym) and one yoga day on the weekend (usually Sunday).  I lift in splits, I lift in supersets, I lift with drops, I lift with intervals.

But I always lift with purpose.

I wanted to share with you guys a few of my favorite moves, the weights I use to do them, and one of the ways I structure my sets, just to give you some ideas for your own weights workouts – and I am happy to hear what you do in the gym too!

TFB Fave (Shoulders & Triceps)

Key Moves (3 sets, 12 reps):

• Shoulder press – 20# DBs
• Shoulder double raise – 12# DBs
• Triceps dips
• Overhead triceps press – 25# DB
• Triceps kickbacks – 12# DBs
• Wide-stance pushups
• Arnold press – 12# DBs
• Rear flye – 8# DBs
• Close-grip pushups
• REST 60 seonds; repeat

TFB Wedding Dress Workout (Back & Biceps)

Key Moves 3 sets, 12 reps):

• Lat pull-down – 70#
• Assisted pull-ups (or pull-ups!)
• Alternating biceps curls – 20# DBs
• Underhand lat pull-down – 70#
• Single-arm row – 25# DB
• Incline biceps curl – 15# DBs
• Biceps cable curl – 15#
• Cable squat-row – 40#
• Plank row – 15# DBs
• REST 60 seconds, repeat

TFB Lean Legs Day

Key Moves (3 sets, 15 reps):

• Deep squats – 25# DBs
• Walking lunges – 20# DBs
• Jump lunges
• Sumo squats – 40# DB
• Bulgarian split squats – 20# DBs
• Jump squats
• Cable abduction – 10# per leg
• Leg press – 250#
• Squat-thrusts
• REST 60 seconds, repeat

What are your favorite body parts to lift?  What exercises do you like best?